War
by AzumaKohana
Summary: Ever wonder why exactly Master Shiunsai never trained Rikimaru how to handle war?
1. Prologue

**War**

Summary: Ever wonder _why_ Master Shiunsai never trained Rikimaru how to handle war?

Rated: T

Disclaimer: I don't own it; so don't even bother suing!

Prologue

Ayame and Tatsumaru stood stock still in the warm, spring afternoon, staring at the scene before them in shock. The cool wind blew through the air, chilling sweat off the two ninjas' skin (though whether from the training that had abruptly been halted, or sheer terror they wouldn't know) as they watched their master, Shiunsai, attempt to restrain the hysterical Rikimaru.

"LET ME GO! LET ME GO! I WON'T LET YOU KILL ME YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Screamed the 14 year-old boy as he attempted to run off. The old man struggled to keep the boy still as Rikimaru kicked and squirmed wildly.

"Rikimaru, calm down; no one is going to hurt you! Now keep still!" Shiunsai struggled with a grunt hoping that he wouldn't have to hurt the suddenly crazed boy. It was earlier in the morning when Rikimaru began to act strangely.

First, he had been muttering to himself during breakfast, and when Ayame teased him about it, the boy slammed his hands on the table and stalked out of the room holding his hands over his ears; then, after they had jogged about ten laps around the village, Rikimaru began fidget nervously, and after asking if he was alright the boy wouldn't look at Shiunsai at all, preferring to stare at the ground or the trees, and muttering to himself still; then while practicing some new kata, the fourteen year-old suddenly let out a scream and curled into a ball with his hands over his ears, whimpering and whispering,

"Shut up. Just leave me alone. Leave me alone. Just leave me the hell alone."

Concerned, Tatsumaru took a cautious step towards his little brother in an attempt to see what was the matter, and Rikimaru let out another scream before taking off towards the surrounding forest. Shiunsai quickly grabbed the boy from behind, before he began to struggle roughly and scream loudly.

"What the hell?" One of the villagers that was walking by, a tall, burly man with a limp, said running up to assist the old man in restraining Rikimaru. "What's going on?" He asked the ninja master as, he grabbed the boy's legs, Rikimaru screamed louder and doubled his efforts in getting away. Ayame whimpered and buried her face in Tatsumaru's chest.

"I don't know, Kotetsu-san," replied Shiunsai as he had to yell just to talk to the man, "Rikimaru just began screaming and tried to run into the baboon forest, but we have to calm him down before he hurts himself!"

"Or us," replied the burly man.

"STOP IT! JUST GET AWAY FROM ME! PLEASE, STOP HURTING ME!" Rikimaru began to sob from terror. Everything was too loud, and bright, and oh gods, _why_ was there a little girl with purple hair, and a blue kimono, and spiked geta shoes, _stabbing him in the gut_?!

"_**You should kill yourself,"**_ said the girl in a high-pitched static-y sounding voice, before stabbing the teen again.

"_**You should kill yourself." **_STAB!_** "You should kill yourself." **_STAB! _**"You should kill yourself." **_STAB! STAB! STAB! STAB!

Rikimaru screamed again in fear before he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, and almost happily, sank into darkness.


	2. 1: Sickness

Chapter 1: Sickness

(A/N: "…" Regular conversations; '…' Regular thoughts; _**"…"**_Hallucinations "speech";_** '…'**_ Hallucinations "thoughts")

The air inside the beige colored room that Rikimaru sat in was cool. He was slumped against the wall let out a sigh of exhaustion. The teen smiled tiredly as the buzzing in his head turned into a small, comforting hum, before lying on his back, counting the cracks in the ceiling.

"One little, two little, three little cracks and, four little, five little; huh?" Rikimaru's soft singing was interrupted by a fly that was in the room, "oh, hello, Mr. fly"

As the fly flew around him, Rikimaru could hear the fly say, _**"buzz, buzz! Why hello there, human! It's a lovely day to be flying; why don't you join me?"**_ The boy laughed and tried to stand, but the tight ropes that tied his arms behind his back and his ankles together, prevented that.

"I can't. I'm stuck…" Rikimaru whined. Buzz, buzz, buzz! The fly landed on his leg before flying away,

"_**Sucks to be you then, human!"**_ Laughed the fly as it continued to fly around the room, as if mocking him.

"You…ugh," the boy groaned letting his head roll back. His head still hurt from when Rikimaru was hit in the head. Rikimaru lifted his head and looked around the room lazily.

The room he was in was small and had beige colored walls. The floor was made of dark brown, hard wood and was dusty, as if it hadn't been used in a while. The door, which was a few feet away from where Rikimaru was sitting, was metal and had bars on it. Bars!

The teenager snarled angrily; how _dare_ they imprison him! 'They must be trying to get me to tell them the trust about The Secret,' Rikimaru thought as began to struggle against his bonds yelling, "You'll never get anything out of me! You bastards have to kill me first; so come out and fight me like a man! Come on: I'm ready for you!"

Shiunsai shook his head sadly as he heard his student's yelling just outside the door of the holding cell, usually reserved for those that tried to spy on the small ninja village (Rikimaru was put in there so he wouldn't scare or hurt anyone, including himself). The old man must have aged about ten years in less than two days; Shiunsai had dark circles beginning to form under his eyes from exhaustion, due to lack of sleep (Shiunsai had a mission the night before Rikimaru's…well, he didn't know what it was yet); his hair and clothes, usually neat were now messy and wrinkled from having to restrain Rikimaru twice after the boy got violent with the doctor that was checking him for poisons, concussions, or any other thing that could have caused the boy to act the way he was.

"FUCKING SHITHEADS! LET ME OUT!!!! LET ME OUT NOW OR I'LL KILL YOU ALL! LET ME OUT DAMMIT!!" Shiunsai heard Rikimaru scream; with a sigh, he turned and asked one of the guards that were standing nearby to knock the boy out again before he ended up hurting himself or loose. The guard nodded and walked into the small holding cell that Rikimaru was in, while the doctor that had examined the boy walked up to the old man.

"Shiunsai-sama, I have…an idea of what may be wrong with Rikimaru," the old doctor said to the master ninja. Shiunsai turned and asked,

"Well, what is it Hakure-sensei?"

"I believe that it is best to send the boy to a hospital in the main city, just to be sure; however, all of his symptoms seem to point to paranoid schizophrenia."

"Paranoid…what?" Asked Shiunsai, looking confused.

"Paranoid schizophrenia is a mental illness that results from there not being enough of a certain chemical in the brain as well as certain stress triggers," explained the doctor, to which the master shinobi's eyes widened; and as he was about to ask a question, the doctor cut him off saying, "it's not anything you or anyone else triggered specifically; however, symptoms of schizophrenia usually doesn't appear until the late teens. That's why I think that it would be best to send Rikimaru to a hospital, if only for a couple weeks."

At that point the guard that had went into Rikimaru's cell, walked out, holding a rag to his bleeding nose.

"The brat is unconscious…again," he grumbled, "I gave him a bit less of the sedative you used earlier, since I didn't wanna risk ODing him, Hakure-sensei."

"What happened?" asked Shiunsai.

"Got into a fight with the kid's skull and lost," the guard said as he walked down the hall to the infirmary. The ninja winched, "please excuse-" he began.

"No, no…I'll have none of it Shiunsai-sama. After all that your clan has done for this land, no apologies are needed. Besides, you student isn't fully aware of his surroundings or the situation he's in. Now, if you wish, after I check his physical state, you and your other students may visit him before he is transferred," said Hakure with a smile.

Shiunsai bowed to the doctor, respectfully saying, "Thank you very much for all your help. I will get Ayame and Tatsumaru now, while Rikimaru is unconscious."

Hakure-sensei returned the bow before walking into the boy's cell, as Shiunsai walked out of the dingy prison-like building, into the late morning light.

To be continued…

(A/N: Sorry for the long wait guys. My internet's been on and off lately. Just so you guys know, there will be quasi-hints of modern meds, just to get the story along; but nothing over the top, je promise!)


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